Hey Corey, Yes, I'm aware of that method, the right drives to get, the software to use etc (why I said 'not DDS drives' fwiw in the subject line). I appreciate your posting the Yahoo group - could prove useful for me in case I run into trouble in the future, as probably I will eventually invest in something like that for my own purposes. It's a big ask for my organization to invest in that equipment (the SCSI DAT drive, a SCSI to FW bridge, and a power supply, by my count) though - we'll probably be able to borrow that stuff, thank goodness, but regardless, it's nice to know what the alternatives are. I've been having trouble even with 16/44 via SPDIF and was wondering if anybody has successfully done caps via SPDIF at 12/32 but also at 16/44 or 16/48, what software/capture card they used (especially if they used Macs, which is what we've got around here to work with). In the event I have to do analogue caps of course I will do it at 24/96 per usual :) E May 2 2017 4:12 PM, "Corey Bailey" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi Eli, > Since you want to stay in the digital domain, there is a Yahoo group > called "datheads2wav": [log in to unmask] This is a group > dedicated to using certain 4MM backup drives to extract audio from DAT > tapes. Basically, they build drivers (and a simple GUI) for the Windows > OS to operate a 4MM backup drive and extract the digital information on > the tape to wav files. There is a bit of a learning curve and, of > course, you need to find the correct drive on the used market. However, > the system works. You may have to devote a PC to the project but, if you > have enough tapes, it's worth it. I have a legacy PC running Win NT4 > that is dedicated to this process. Although currently in storage, this > particular system has recovered over 200 DAT's. The caveat here is that > I'm not sure how well it will work with 12bit, 32K files. I have a > couple of DAT machines that will play 12bit, 32K and when I have come > across the occasional tape in this format, I have done what the others > have suggested: Play the tape and capture the analog out to a hi-res > digital format. > > Regards, > > Corey > Corey Bailey Audio Engineering > www.baileyzone.net > > On 5/2/2017 12:15 PM, Eli Bildirici wrote: > >> Hey Lou and Ted, >> Appreciate it but I'm trying to avoid the quality loss, however minor, of a D-A-D conversion. Once >> the 12-bit files are created, resampling to a more standard format e.g. Redbook should be trivial >> by using a good resampler like SoX (or Izotope if you could afford it) right? In any case there is >> also Redbook and possibly 48kHz content on these tapes and it just seems silly to do D-A-D on >> those, lacking even the motive of moving to a more standardized format. I'm only even asking for >> this because I figured it would be beneficial to know an alternative to the preferred way of making >> these copies (DSS drives and ReadDAT or DATXtract). Of course if neither of these ways work out, >> doing a D-A-D conversion will have to do, and probably won't make much of a difference given that >> there is very little content here that isn't straight-up voice (we're a radio show after all). But >> it's still not ideal :/ In any case, thanks for chiming in. >> Regards, >> Eli > > May 2 2017 2:48 PM, "Ted Kendall"<[log in to unmask]> wrote: > If memory serves, the 12-bit convertors were non-linear anyway. Best to > convert to something civilised via analogue. > > May 2 2017 2:24 PM, "Lou Judson"<[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Sigh, nonstandard formats are a problem! > > But as a small time archivst myself, I would take the analog outut of the deck and re-encode it at > 16 bit for archiving purposes. There is no way you waould actually want “bit-perfect” 12 bit files, > as that would just pass the problem down to your successors. > > Play the DATs, record the output in a normal format, and it will be far better than any kluge you > can do with 12 bit digital. > > I used Sony 12 bit 32kHz for some extended recordings back in the day, and this was the best way I > found for the transfer. > > I’ll be interested to see if anyone has a better suggestion! > > <L> > Lou Judson > Intuitive Audio > 415-883-2689 > > On May 2, 2017, at 10:56 AM, Eli Bildirici<[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> Hey ARSClisters, >> >> I'm an intern in the archives department at Democracy Now! and have come across a couple hundred >> mixed-frequency DAT tapes, many of which have 12-bit/32kHz content on them. (And yes, this is the >> same issue an archivist from DN! posted about nearly ten years ago, here >> (http://www.cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/arsclist/2007/07/msg00380.html).) We'd >> like to make bit-perfect digital copies, but don't have a SCSI DDS drive at the moment, and in any >> case would like to know if there's a reliable alternative path to digitally copying DATs, >> especially those recorded at a bit-depth of 12, via S/PDIF and capture cards. I attempted to copy a >> portion of a tape recorded at Redbook rates using our main deck - a Sony PCM-R500 - with an M-Audio >> FireWire Solo and Audacity to record, but this was full of pops and clicks that, I assume, are the >> result of the M-Audio failing to lock onto the tape deck's clock. (The pops and clicks only show up >> during recording and are not on the tape itself. Actually, I suspect Audacity may in part be to >> blame, since the pops and clicks are absent when monitoring via the M-Audio control panel app on OS >> X...but I digress.) I've also found that external sound cards based on the C-Media CM6206 chipset - >> cheap and plentiful on eBay - reportedly support 16-bit/32kHz input, as does the S/PDIF input of >> our aging PowerMac G5. But that doesn't help us with 12-bit content, and nor do we know whether >> clock syncing will pose an issue and how to deal with it if it does. My suspicion is that, while >> there might be an economical and reliable solution to recording DAT tapes with 16-bit content (at >> least at 44.1 or 48 kHz sample rates) without a DDS drive, that we're out of luck for 12-bit >> content - but, any advice/confirmation/refutation would be most welcome. >> >> Thanks, >> Eli >> >> Eli Bildirici >> (347) 837-8337 >> >> Eli Bildirici >> (347) 837-8337 Eli Bildirici (347) 837-8337